The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus
Description of holdings
Amount of holdings: 1 308 fonds, 1 226 996 items, 811 records
Chronological scope: from 1917 to the present (certain records from the 17th, late 19th, and early 20th centuries)
Geographical coverage:
- former Vilno (Vilnius), Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev and Smolensk gubernias (provinces) of the Russian Empire
- Western Belarus as part of Poland
- Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR)
- Republic of Belarus
Contents:
The Archives embraces records related to all major aspects of the political, social, economic and cultural life in Belarus. These reflect the struggle of the working people of Belarus for the formation of Soviet power, the events of the Russian Civil War (1918-1921) and the Second World War, the restoration and development of national economy and cultural development. Many records are concerned with the life of prominent politicians, state functionaries, workers in the realm of science, culture and art.
The period of the eve of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 is illustrated in the records of chancelleries of the province and district commissars, social, land and food committees, local self-government boards, and other institutions of the Provisional Government in Belarus.
The struggle of the Belarusian people against German invaders in the First World War, the efforts to keep union with Russia, and the first steps in the socialist construction on the unoccupied territory of Western Region are reflected in the fonds of agencies and institutions of Western Region (1918) and in the fonds of the Belarusian National Commissariat (1918-1919).
The legislation process, the principles, forms and methods of the state management of the national economy, the social, cultural and governmental development of the country are represented by records of the highest organs of state power–the Central Executive Committee of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR, the Council of People’s Commissars – the Council of Ministers of the BSSR and the Republic of Belarus, the Permanent Mission of the BSSR to the USSR Government, the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.
The Archives also holds the fonds of judiciary, courts and prosecution agencies–the Ministry of Justice (earlier People’s Commissariat) of the BSSR, the High Court of the BSSR, the Supreme Court of the BSSR, the Prosecutor’s Office of the BSSR, and the State Arbitrage under the Council of Ministers of the BSSR.
Various information on transportation is held in the fonds of the Ministry of Motor Transport of the BSSR, the Main Highway Administration of the BSSR, the Administration of the Belarusian Railway, the Main Administration of River Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the BSSR, and the Belarusian Administration of Civil Aviation.
The development of mail, telegraph, telephone and radio communications, radio and television broadcast are illustrated in records of the Ministry of Communications of the BSSR and the State Committee on TV and Radio of the BSSR.
Records of public education are represented by the fonds of the People’s Commissariat of Education of the BSSR, the Ministry of Education of the BSSR, the Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education of the BSSR, and individual higher educational institutions.
The development of culture and art is illustrated in the fonds of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR, the State Committee on Cinema under the Council of Ministers of the BSSR, the Committee for Arts Affairs, and the Committee for Affairs of Cultural and Educational Institutions under the Council of Ministers of the BSSR.
The issues of health care are revealed in the records of the Ministry of Health of the BSSR (earlier People’s Commissariat of Health).
The Archives also retains records of trade associations and labour unions, social organizations, political parties and movements.
Documents relating to the Second World War are represented by the fonds of the Belarusian Headquarters of Partisan Movement, partisan brigades and groups, the Commission for Issue of Certificate “Partisan of Belarus”, the Belarusian Central Commission for Investigation of Nazi Crimes and Estimate of Nazi Damage, the Commission on the History of World War Two under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Belarus, and the Minsk City Underground Movement Committee. In addition, the Archives houses the collections of war letters sent from the frontline, leaflets, newspapers and posters of Communist Party, Komsomol and anti-fascist organizations and partisan groups, and collections of microfilms of documents that are now kept in the archives of other countries. The resistance of the local population to Nazi invaders is revealed in the fonds of the higher Party, Soviet, Komsomol and military agencies and institutions, and local underground Party and Komsomol agencies and institutions.
Records of the Occupation (1941-1944) are represented by the fonds of the German occupation administration, local self-government bodies, military institutions and units, police structures, judiciary, prosecution and penalty agencies, population registration agencies, agencies of the economic development of the Occupied territories, agencies of the communal and housing service of the economic entities, public education institutions, and information-propaganda and social organizations that functioned legally under the Occupation, as well as the professional, scientific, scholarly and cultural associations among others.
Fonds of the Central Committees of the Communist Party of Belarus and the Lenin’s Young Communist League (Komsomol) of Belarus retain records relating to the Party construction and inter-Party struggle; the leadership of the Communist Party and Komsomol over the institutions of state government, public and youth organizations, national economy, culture, health care, and underground and partisan movement in the Second World War; about ideological, political-educational, and military-defence work among the population. Among the personnel records of the higher Party and Komsomol agencies are lists, mandates, certificates, questionnaires, files on Party membership, personal files, and files of appeal. The history and activity of the Communist Party of Western Belarus are reflected in the fonds of the Embassy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Western Belarus to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Belarus.
Records of the fonds of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus from the years 1992-1996 reflect the legislative process of making laws, law codes, and intergovernment agreements that regulated the political and economic life of the country after receiving independence.
A separate group of records is represented by the personal fonds. These are papers related to Party leaders, state functionaries and public figures (Masherov P. M., Kisilev T. Ia., Aksenov A. N., Sliunkov N. N., Pritytski S. O., Mazurov K. T., Avkhimovich N. E., Vetrov I. D., Klimov I. F., Lobanok V. E., Surganov F. A., Papkov F. E., Snezhkova N. L., Poliakov I. E., Shushkevich S. S., Zetiukov M. A., Smirnov V. S., etc.), Belarusian scientists and scholars (Fedorov F. I., Aleksandrov N. N., Gudimov B. S., Dominikovski F. N., Kancher E. S., Kopysski E. U., Sikorski V. M., Chepko V. V., Chimburg I. S., Trusov O. A., Shtyhov G. V., etc.).